Hindley asked to be hypnotised

MOORS MURDERER Myra Hindley asked to be hypnotised in a bid to help police find the spot where Keith Bennett was murdered on Saddleworth Moor. A document made public today reveals that both Hindley and Ian Brady made separate requests to be allowed to help Greater Manchester Police in their continuing search for the boy’s body.

MOORS MURDERER Myra Hindley asked to be hypnotised in a bid to help police find the spot where Keith Bennett was murdered on Saddleworth Moor.

A document made public today reveals that both Hindley and Ian Brady made separate requests to be allowed to help Greater Manchester Police in their continuing search for the boy’s body.

It says that Hindley petitioned the “Secretary of State” for permission to be hypnotised in the hope that under hypnosis, she would be able to recall more accurately the area of the moor where Keith was buried.

It states that the request had been supported by her ‘advisors’ including Methodist minister and former prison governor Rev Peter Timms and also by Chief Supt Peter Topping, who was in charge of the inquiry.

The letter, dated November 1987, says Mr Topping had been particularly keen for Brady to pay a second visit to the moor in a further attempt to find Keith’s body.

He emphasised that as far as he was concerned the sole objective of the continuing inquiry into the disappearance of the youngster, was to find his body. That was the only way in his view in which the case could be regarded as closed.

He said that unless all possible avenues were explored, pressure on the police and ultimately on ministers, would be bound to continue and increase.

The letter says that Hindley’s request was in many ways the most difficult. Mr Topping argued that if she responded well to hypnosis, something which would be established quite quickly, it was possible that she would be able to recall in considerable detail the route taken to the scene of Keith Bennett’s murder.

According to her detailed confession, although she did not actually witness the murder or burial, she was very nearby when it took place, acting as a lookout.

It said that hypnosis also had the advantage of being something which could be undertaken within the confines of the prison, without the publicity difficulties inherent with a visit to the moors.

Keith Bennett's mother Winnie Johnson also requested that Hindley should be allowed to undergo hypnosis in a bid to pinpoint the body, according to the files.

Douglas Hurd refused permission for hypnosis when he was Home Secretary in 1987.

It was eventually given the go-ahead in 1995, but Hindley's ill-health hampered the plans.

A letter from Ann West, mother of victim Lesley Ann Downey, to the then Home Secretary Robert Carr, making a heartfelt plea for Hindley to be kept behind bars is included in the files.

The three page handwritten letter, dated September 13, 1972, also protests about the moors murderer being let out for walks in the park.

“You must think I am very bitter and I am and there must be hundreds of people that feel the way I do about this.

“If it was me, I would feel safer where I was. Please help me as a mother who has suffered more than anyone knows to lose a little girl in such a cold blooded murder.”

Among the Myra Hindley files made public for the first time today are documents relating to hypnosis in prison and arrangements for a visit to Saddleworth Moor.

The documents also include petitions to the prison governor, documents relating to visits by Lord Longford who championed Hindley throughout her stay in jail, and correspondence with MP John Trevellyn.

The files include documents dealing with Hindley’s transfer to Cookham Wood Prison, correspondence from members of the public and counselling by the Rev Peter Timms.

Also included among the documents are details of a Parole Board review, documents relating to consideration of a whole life tariff and consideration of a possible transfer to open prison conditions.

The files include a number of letters from members of the public which Hindley kept over the years.

Several are highly critical of her. One hit out at her gaining an Open University degree.

It said: “Hindley will never change. I think it is degrading to let Hindley wear the gown of the Open University. You have made her look like a hero instead of a murderess.”

There are also letters written on her behalf by the Governor of Cookham Wood Prison in Kent in response to correspondence sent to the child killer.

It reads: “Miss Hindley wishes to tell you that she does not wish to communicate with you.”